Yup. I saw it at NAMM. Uses a super duper tube that is out of print (
Royer buys 'em for about $70 each). Mega specs, and I have forgotten all of them. It looked pretty cool, I mean warm, and damn, I forgot the model number too.

It's amazing how much you can see in 6 hours if you really try. And I had to schmooze some artists/endorsees too.

Well, I believe it's been shown previously as a "concept mic", and is not slated for production. Dave likes tubes and ribbons, so why not? I guess that's better for AES, which is more "how cool!" than "how much?"

Yup, it's a preamp kinda tube, same function as the solid state versions, gain and proper impedance matching. Don't know if it's for production but as for the exotic discontinued tube,
Royer said they were scooping up as many as they can find. So it sounds like they might sell a few at some time.